As illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 1 and 2, practically all manual transmission vehicles (in particular mustangs) have a conventional shifter principle which although may vary in actual specific design pretty much all work identically. The transmission in a car has a linkage that moves the gears inside the transmission in order to operate the vehicle in both forward and reverse. Some cars have 3 speeds, or forward gears. Some have 4, 5 or even 6 forward gears. Regardless, the function is the same. The linkage inside the transmission needs to be manipulated by the driver while seated in the driver's seat. To achieve this a mechanism commonly referred to as a “shifter” is bolted inside the car, which on top has a shift “knob” that the driver grabs to change gears and on bottom has a small ball socket that inserts into the transmission itself. This “shifter” is the only way that the driver can actually place the car in the proper gear to move forward or reverse. All known shifters generally use a pivot ball that basically works much like a seesaw. As the driver pulls back on the shift “knob” the center shaft pivots on a ball which in turn makes the small ball socket pivot in the opposite direction inside the transmission thus “selecting a gear”. The distance between the fulcrum, or pivot ball, and the small ball socket determines what is known as the “throw” of the shifter.
Stock shifters and all known aftermarket shifters generally have a solid one-piece center shaft that goes all the way down inside the car into the transmission. Unfortunately, this allows virtually all noise and vibration originating from the transmission, which is known to have a great deal of vibration, to transfer up and thru the shifter center shaft into the shift knob handle, and thereby into the driver's hand. Known factory, or OEM, units utilize a relatively thick rubber gasket on the shift handle as an attempt to muffle this noise. This works adequately, yet such approaches are known to cause the shift handle to flex significantly, and feel very “loose” or “mushy” to the driver when shifting gears. Hence, known aftermarket shifters eliminate this rubber gasket to stiffen the feel of the shift handle but this consequentially removes any noise insulation from the transmission and therefore causes the shifter to buzz and vibrate, often to unacceptable levels.
Known stock shifters feature a bent shift handle that is bent to attempt to move the shift knob position back to the driver for better ergonomics. All other aftermarket shifters use a very similar handle, which may have different bends or heights but basically do the same thing. However, these shifters do not give any adjustments left or right, which can limit the ergonomics for each type of driver. Every person has unique height, weight, arm length, leg length etc. A shifter that is not capable of adjusting left to right, front to back or up and down is usually not able to please every driver. FIG. 1 illustrates handles of a prior-art stock shifter and a popular aftermarket handle. Those skilled in the art will recognize such approaches clearly lack any adjustable positioning. The handle bolts to its shifter in only one place, unlike the handle of the present invention.
The present inventor has designed and brought to market a prior approach, which is comprised of an adjustable handle that uses a 12 mm bolt inside an aluminum housing that attaches to the shift shaft. This handle offers some adjustability because the design bends the bolt about 15 degrees. When rotating the bolt, the handle pivots over to the driver. One significant problem with this prior design is that customers still complain because the shift knob also rotates or “leans” left or back, which makes it uncomfortable when shifting gears. This prior approach, which was designed and marketed by the present applicant, has since product introduction been widely copied by competitors, but none have improved on its design in any significant manner. The present applicant regards this prior design as inferior at least for the foregoing reasons and realized there is a need for an improved solution to this shifting handle problem.
Currently available short throw shifters typically have a fixed distance between the pivot point of the shifter and the connection point between the shifter and the transmission. This results in a fixed throw distance of the shifter. Different drivers have different preferences as to how long the throw of the shifter should be, and this fixed design does not enable a driver to adjust the throw according to his preference. Some solutions exist that provide adaptors that fit to an existing stock shifter to change the throw. However, these solutions require the driver to employ a several adapters of varying lengths to change the throw to the preference of the driver.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved shifter that dampens the noise and vibration of the transmission. There is also a need for improved methods to enable a shifter to be fully adjustable in various directions to achieve a comfortable driving position and throw for the driver.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.